Where Do You Go When the Waiting Gets Heavy?

Sarai had a promise from God, but the time between the promise and the fulfillment began to feel unbearable. Waiting did not just test her patience. It tested her sense of worth, her trust in God’s timing, and her fear that maybe she had misunderstood Him altogether. So she reached for control. And Abram went along with it. What looks like a practical solution was actually a spiritual shortcut. Scripture does not rush past that moment because God knows how familiar it is to us.

So where do we go when waiting presses like that. The text shows us two places. Sarai and Abram go inward and sideways. They look for relief they can manage. Hagar, on the other hand, runs into the wilderness. And that is where God meets her. Not in the plan. Not in the striving. In the place of desperation. The waiting reveals where we tend to run, but it also reveals where God is willing to meet us.

When desire feels urgent, Proverbs 5 speaks directly to that ache. Desire itself is not condemned. What is warned against is misdirected desire. Drinking from another well. Seeking intimacy, comfort, or affirmation outside of the place God designed to sustain us. Proverbs 5 is honest about how appealing shortcuts feel. They promise sweetness at first. They quiet the nervous system temporarily. But over time they drain joy, clarity, and strength. The wisdom here is not moralistic. It is protective. God is saying, do not give your body, heart, or future to something that cannot shepherd you.

This connects straight back to Genesis. Sarai’s desire for relief was understandable. But the well she drank from brought strife instead of peace. Desire unchecked by trust always costs more than we expect.

And then there is that whisper of fear. What if God does not come through this time. Genesis 17 through 20 answers that fear gently but firmly. Abraham still struggles. Fear still drives his choices. He tells half truths. He reverts to old patterns. And yet God remains faithful to Sarah. He protects her. He preserves the promise. He intervenes even when Abraham does not act courageously. The story makes this unmistakably clear. God’s faithfulness does not depend on our flawless obedience. It rests on His covenant character.

That is where Psalm 23 settles us.

The Lord is my shepherd is not poetry meant to calm us. It is a declaration rooted in lived experience. A shepherd leads. A shepherd provides. A shepherd stays. Even in valleys. Especially in valleys. Green pastures and still waters are not earned by waiting well. They are given because sheep need them to survive.

So where do you go when the waiting gets heavy? Genesis invites you to stop trying to manufacture outcomes and instead let God meet you where you are honest and undone.

Where do you go when desire feels urgent? Proverbs calls you to drink deeply from what truly satisfies and to trust that God’s boundaries are not withholding goodness but guarding it.

Where do you go when fear whispers that God might not come through this time? Genesis 17 through 20 reminds you that He has already committed Himself to the promise, even when His people falter. Psalm 23 reminds you that you are not walking this road alone.

You go back to the Shepherd.

Not because the waiting disappears. Not because the desire vanishes overnight. But because your soul is restored before you try to solve what only God can shepherd.

And friend, if you are tired of holding it all together, Scripture is not asking you to try harder. It is inviting you to stop running ahead and let yourself be led.